Drier



" ratsam am. ae, reas,

ST'IES Leraar@ PHILIP E. PERKINS, F COLUMBUS, DMO.

IDRIER.

l Vappucanon med :une 24, i921. serial no. esame.

of Ohio, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanical drying apparatus, and has for l its object to provide a drier in which mechanismv is provided for producing an improved path of heat circulation through the interior of the drier shell, in order that the heat passing through the drier will come into indirect contact only with the material to be dried, and to thereby prevent burning or scorching of the material.

In carrying out the invention, use is made of a mec provided at opposite ends thereof for introducing material tobe dried therein and to e'ect the discharge of the material after the latter has been dried, one end of the shell being in communication with a source l of heat whichincludes a longitudinally extending delivery tube and an aligned exhaust tube, the shell ends of said tubes being connected with headers or enlarged casings supported Within the shell, and in the the arrangement of parts being such that heat will enter the shell by Way ofthe delivery tube, will be circulated througlrone of the headers and then passed longitudinally substantiall throughout the length of the shellv t0 and disc arged into the second header, and

'thence out of the drier by way of the exhaust tube, this method of heat circulation, therefore, enables the products passing through the shell of the apparatus to be subjected to t5 the heat of the gases passingthrough the dues and headers and yet prevented fromv coming into direct contact with such heated ases.

or a further understandmg of the 1nvention, reference is to be had to the following description and to the accompanying drawing, in which similar characters of reference anical drier which includes the- 20 usual rotatably mounted shell, having means denote like and corresponding parts throughout the several views thereof.

In said drawing: Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectlonal view taken through the improved drying apparatus comprising the present invent1on, and,

Figure 2 is a vertical'transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the details of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the improved drying apparatus in its entlrety. In its preferred form, this apparatus includes the usual rotatably mounted,

longitudinally extending and slightly in# c lined shell 2, which is preferably of metall1c construction and is supported for rotation by having the opposite ends thereof provided with annular tires 3, which are adapted to engage with spaced sets of rollers 4, provided upon horizontal shafts 5, which are supported for rotation within bearings provided in roller beds 6, the latter being provided with spaced thrust rollers 7, which are situated to engage the sides of the tires 3 and to prevent undue longitudinal movement-on the part of the shell. The rollers 4 and 7 thereby serve to support the shell 2 for rotation in amanner customary to machines of this nature. The rotation ofthe shell2 is also positively effected in the usual manner. I Thus, an annular gear ring 8 is secured to the outer portion of the shell 2 and is disposed to mesh with a spur gear 9 provided upon'an axle 10, which is mounted in suitable bearings provided in a `bed ll. One end of the axle 10 is equipped with a beveled gear 12, which is adapted to mesh With a beveled pinion 13, the shaft of the latter being equipped with a pulley or the line 14, whereby motion may be imparted to the gearing to positively rotate the drying shell.

Ordinaril the receiving end of the shell 2 is provide with a stationary vapor bonnet 15, which is suitably supported in a stationary manner at one end of l[he shell b means of a frame 16 carried by the base 1g upon which the apparatus 1 is carried. 'in this instance the vapor bonnet is equipped with the usual feed spout 18 by means of which material to be dried is fed into the inlill@ terior of the shell. By the location of the spout 18, it will be apparent that the vapor bonnet should be stationarily supported. The opposite end of the shell is in open communication with a stationariy mounted vdischarge hood 19, into which the material discharged from the shell 2 may drop for puroseS of collection and handling, the said ood being also in communication with a conduit 20 which leads to a mechanically driven fan 21, the said' fan serving in the usual manner to carryol' the vapors, which result from the drying of materials within the shell and to thereby enable the relative humidity within the shell to be controlled in such manner as to facilitate drying operations. l

In order to provide an improved circulation of heat through the apparatus, the latter is adapted to be used in conjunction with a suitable source of heat 22, such as a furnace or other equivalent apparatus. In the present instance, a furnace has been shown from which afdelivery tube 23 extends, the said tube including a stationary section 24 and a rotatable section 25, the said sections being united by means of a rotatable joint construction 26. The rotatable section 25 of the delivery tubeextends longitudinally and axially through the vapor bonnet 15 and into one end of the shell 2, said section terminating in a header 27, which is mounted within the shell and is suitably connected with the latter for rotation, and in spaced relation from the inner Walls thereof, by means of brackets 28. It will be seen that by the brackets 28, the header 27 and the rotatable section 25 of the delivery tube will be caused to rotate in unison with the movement of the shell. Connected with the header 27 are the ends of a plurality of longitudinally extendin tubes or heat flues 29, which are dispose substantially throughout the length of the shell and Iare situated concentrically of the axis thereof, the said flues bei o' disposed in relatively spaced relationship, and it will be seen that by reason of their connection with the header 27, heated gases will flow from the source of heat 22, through the delivery tube and thence through the heat flues. The other ends of the lues 29 are connected with a second header 30, which is also mounted within the shell 2 and is supported by brackets 31 corresponding to the brackets 28. This header is in communication with an exhaust tube which includes a rotatable section 32 and a relatively stationary section 33, a joint connection 34- being provided between the sections of the exhaust tube. Since the rotatable section 32 is directly connected with the header 30, it follows that by the rotation of the shell 2, motion will be imparted to the section 32. In operation, the material to be dried is fed into the apparatus by way of the feed spout 18 or an equivalent ap aratus. This wet oi'pmoist materialthen rops into the interior of the shell and is caught by spiral blades 35 provided upon the interior walls of the shell, in order that the material will be conveyed rearwardly and at the same time lifted and agitated so as to be thrown aroundithe heated section 25 of the delivery tube aiid also about the walls of the header 27. After leaving the blades 35, the materia-l is engaged by means of Aa plurality of lifting blades 36, which are disposed in staggered relationship upon the interior walls of the shell, and operate to churn and lift the material when the shell is being rotated. By lifting the material, 'the latter is caused to be dropped upon the surfaces of the relatively spaced iues 29 so as to ercolate between the interstices existing et/ween said lues, the rotationfrof the shell and the iiues enabling the material to be thoroughly mixed or cascaded and subjected'to the radiarntheat emitted from the surfaces of the iues.' By this constructiomit will be seen that the material will be thoroughly agita-ted and completely exposed in a uniform and ractical manner to the heated surfaces provided within the apparatus, in order that the moisture. contained within the materials may be evaporated and withdrawn from the materials and the shell 2 by the action of the fan 21. This fan serves to quickly and eiiiciently remove moisture from the inrterior of the shell and thus serves to lower the humidity within the llatter and to thereby increase the effectiveness of the machine .in quickl and uniformly drying materials passing t erethrough.

What is claimed is:

l. In 'a drier, a rotatably mounted shell, a source of heat supply, a delivery tube extendin from said source of heat suppl and situa to enter one end of said she in a longitudinal direction, an exhaust tube leading out of the other end of said shell, said tubes including stationar sections situated exteriorly of said shell an rotatable sections situated to enter said. shell, relatively spaced longitudinally extending heat fines mounted to rotate in unison 'with said shell and having the opposite ends thereof connected with in open communioetion with the inner ends rotatable sections of said tubes will rotate of the rotatable sections of said tubes, seid unitarily and means for introducing mateheaders being fixed to said tube sections,rela riol -into and discharging the same from l0 tively spaced longitudinally extending Hues said shell.

5 having the opposite ends thereof oonnectefl ln testimony whereof l affix my signature.

with seid headers, whereby upon the rotetion of seid shell, seid Hues, headers and the i l PHILIP R. PERKNS. 

